nbc's chief foreign correspondent, richard engel, held captive in syria since thursday has been freed after a firefight. martha raddatz has details from washington. what a dramatic escape. >> reporter: it certainly is. richard is a very experienced foreign correspondent. and he had been inside syria before. he and his crew were grabbed after crossing into northwest syria last thursday. there had been no communication with them, no contact, no ransom demands. they were thrown in the back of a truck, bound and blindfolded, although not physically harmed. then yesterday, as the captors were moving them to a new location, they were stopped at a rebel checkpoint. there was a confrontation. and then, the firefight broke out. in that firefight, two of the captors were killed and several others escaped. but richard and his crew were rescued. the syrian rebels then drove him to the border to safety. all are in good health, fortunately. george? >> thank goodness for that. what do we know about the group that took them hostage? >> we know very little about the group. but they were not believed t